Object Decade: 1910 - 1919

One of the Nuu-ciu Chiefs who traveled back to Colorado Springs for Shan Kive in 1911 was Chief Buckskin Charlie. This was the first time he and his people had been allowed back to the Pikes Peak region in 30 years. Buckskin Charlie was born near Garden of the Gods in 1840. At that time, the Nuu-ciu’s ancestral homeland stretched from present-day Colorado’s eastern plains to the mountains and mesas of eastern Utah and Northern New Mexico. According to the oral history of the Nuu-ciu, this region has always been their homeland and archaeologists agree the Nuu-ciu are Colorado’s oldest continuous residents.
In 1858 when Buckskin Charlie was only 18 years old, a period of unimaginable change began when gold was discovered in the Colorado Territory. Thousands of miners and settlers flooded the region, and soon the Nuu-ciu found themselves in a losing battle to keep their homeland.

When Chief Ouray died in 1880, Buckskin Charlie became the new Chief of the Southern Ute. Like Chief Ouray, Buckskin Charlie knew his people could not win a fight with the hoards of newcomers. Instead, Buckskin Charlie and the Tribal Elders negotiated with the United States government to retain a portion of their traditional homeland for their reservation.
The seven bands of the Nuu-ciu were forced to live on three separate reservations—the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute reservations in southwestern Colorado, and the Uintah Ouray reservation in northeastern Utah. They were ordered never to return to their original homes.

Chief Buckskin Charlie is credited with helping his people to adapt to life on the reservation while keeping alive their traditional ceremonies, religion, festivals and language. When Buckskin Charlie died in 1936 at the age of 96, he had lived to see the Nuu-ciu begin to thrive. Buckskin Charlie’s son Antonio Buck became the last hereditary Chief of the Southern Ute, and also the first elected chairman of the new Tribal Council organized in 1936.

Today the Southern Ute Reservation is composed of 1,064 square miles in southwestern Colorado. Although the reservation remains a focal point, the Nuu-ciu live wherever they choose. Some have returned to the Colorado Springs area to live near their home mountain, Pikes Peak, that they call “Tava” meaning “Sun.” At dawn, Tava is the first Colorado mountain to catch the sun’s rays.

Generously Submitted by Melissa Walker, Naturalist & Interpreter

The Civic League, a non-partisan society of 75 influential women was organized in August 1909, at the urging of Dr. Caroline Spencer. The League sought to investigate municipal conditions and public affairs and to understand economic and social conditions with the purpose of inspiring local citizens to improve the city. The members called themselves “Municipal Housekeepers” who in the early years investigated playgrounds, organized fly-eradication campaigns, sponsored gardening contests, and pressured for streets and alleyways to be cleared of weeds and garbage.

Over time the women became increasingly political, securing a desk at City Council Chambers, the League became an effective shadow government, persuading the city to hire school nurses, to provide free dental care in the schools, to provide public bathrooms, and to hire the first policewoman. The League pressured for a city auditorium, a city planning commission was established and a city planner consulted, street cars were heated in winter and playgrounds were supervised in summer and health and environmental evils became matters of public discussion as never before. Although securing many reforms that continue to contribute to Colorado Springs’s present-day high quality of life, the League stirred up ill will. Major sources of tension were the League’s support for the right of labor to unionize as well as for woman’s suffrage, issues which contributed to internal dissention and the League dissolved after five years.

The first city flag in the state of Colorado was presented to Colorado Springs by Dr. Caroline Spencer on behalf of the Civic League on July 26, 1912. Designed by Nicholas Van den Ahrend and constructed by Caroline Sturgis, it is symbolic of the beauty of the city. The official resolution adopting the flag contained this description: “The White Field is intended to represent the cleanliness and health of the City; the Blue Border our Blue Skies; the Shield carries the Sun, of which we are justly proud; the Mountains stand for Pikes Peak and on it are pictured the gold ingots of our mining industries; the Green Band about the Shield represents the Park System surrounding the city.”

Generously Submitted by Chris Nicholl, Historian